There's Something About Luffy
by pingo1387
Summary: Soon after they leave Thriller Bark behind, Luffy begins acting strange - and he denies knowing anything about it. What's really going on with the captain of the Strawhats? 6
1. What's Wrong with Luffy?

**Takes place between Thriller Bark and Sabaody Archipelago**

* * *

It was another normal day on the Thousand Sunny Go. Franky and Usopp were fine-tuning the new cannon, Brook was composing a new song, Nami was sunbathing in a bikini, Zoro was sleeping against the railing, Sanji was preparing a cake in the kitchen for the girls, Robin was reading a book, Chopper was watching the fish jump out of the sea, and Luffy—

Luffy was starting to poke Usopp in the side, and then flick his nose. Just another normal day…

"Oi, Luffy, cut it out!" snapped Usopp, batting his friend's hand away. "I'm trying to work with Franky here!"

Luffy giggled and poked him harder.

"Ouch! Cut it out!"

Yes, just another normal day…

Luffy gave up and ran over to Franky, climbing up on his shoulders and playing with his hair. Franky shook him off. "Luffy, quit it! It takes me forever to get my hair up that way!"

Luffy shook his head, looked around, and ran to the top of the deck, but not before dipping his finger in some gunpowder and drawing mustaches all over Usopp and Franky's faces.

Just another normal day, right?

Nami sat up, lifting up her sunglasses to see Luffy running across the deck towards her. "Luffy, what is it?" she asked. "Do you need something?"

In answer, he grabbed her sunglasses and put them on, looking around at the darker world. He giggled, took them off, dropped them, and grabbed the sunscreen bottle, squirting some on Nami's stomach and bikini. She shrieked.

"What the hell do you think you're doing!?"

He had already run off with the sunscreen bottle towards Chopper, who turned around. "Hi, Luffy! Have you seen these fish? They're doing acrobatics!"

Luffy squirted sunscreen on Chopper's chest, drawing a smiley face. Chopper looked down and laughed. "That's pretty funny, Luffy—"

Luffy pushed Chopper, who changed into his Heavy Point just in time to grab the railing. "What are you doing!?" he exclaimed.

Luffy just laughed and ran off with the sunscreen bottle.

Just another… normal day…

Zoro woke up when he sensed someone approaching quickly. He saw Luffy coming towards him and muttered "What are you doing now?"

In answer, Luffy dumped most of the rest of the sunscreen on Zoro's head. Zoro leapt up and yelled "You wanna fight, you jerk!?"

Luffy giggled and ran off to where Robin was sitting. She looked up and said "Good morning, Luffy. Are you playing a new game?"

Luffy squirted the rest of the sunscreen all over Robin's clothes; at least, he tried to, but she blocked it with her power, letting it fall onto the many hands that she made appear.

"I would appreciate it if you didn't squirt sunscreen on me, Luffy," she said coolly. He looked interestedly at the hands, grabbed one, let it go, and ran off, dropping the empty bottle on Robin's lap.

Brook was considering which notes to add next when Luffy ran up to him. "Ah," he said, tipping his hat to the captain, "good morning, Luffy-_san_. Is there something that requires my assistance?"

Luffy grabbed the half-finished sheet and started ripping it up.

"L-Luffy-_san_! I must protest—"

Luffy dropped the pieces at Brook's feet and ran off.

"Finally," said Sanji, finishing the light chocolate cake with butter-cream frosting, "it's done! Nami-_swan_ and Robin-_chwan_ will be so happy when they see this—Luffy, go away, this isn't for you."

Luffy had just come barging into the kitchen, sniffing. His eyes, seeming brighter and more curious than usual, widened with delight when he saw the cake. He ran up and stuck a hand in it, grabbing a handful of the cake and promptly shoving it in his mouth. Sanji kicked him, yelling something about his darlings being so upset.

Just… another normal… day… right?

* * *

"Did any of you see where Luffy ran off to?" growled Zoro. "He squirted sunscreen on my head and ran off."

"He destroyed the cake I baked for my Nami-_swan_ and Robin-_chwan_! By the way, that's a good look for you, moss-head."

Nami wailed in frustration. "He got sunscreen all over my bikini!"

"He attempted to do the same to me," said Robin calmly.

"He tried to push me overboard!" cried Chopper.

Franky and Usopp met up with the group with the gunpowder mustaches on their faces. The others stared.

"Luffy?"

"Luffy," grumbled Franky.

"He hurt my treasure…" mumbled Usopp, holding his nose protectively.

"Luffy-_san_ tore up my sheet music," said Brook quietly. But I am a gentleman, and a gentleman never gets angry…"

"Really?" asked Chopper.

Brook drew out his sword.

"…except in certain cases," he finished. "I believe that Luffy-_san_ went up into the crow's nest."

"He better not touch any of my weights," growled Zoro as the Strawhats (minus one) went up to where Luffy was.

They found Luffy in the crow's nest, coming towards the hatch.

"Luffy!" they yelled in unison (Brook yelling "Luffy-_san_!")

"Huh?" he said. "Hi, guys!" he noticed how they were all squeezed in the hatchway. "Why are you like that? Are you trying to be funny?"

They started yelling, hurling accusations at him. He backed up a step. "Wh-What? What's happening?"

Finally squeezing through, they cornered Luffy in the circular room. He pointed to Zoro. "Hey, Zoro, what happened to your hair? Is that sunscreen?"

"You should know," growled Zoro.

"Whoa, Franky, Usopp! You guys look hilarious!" he started cracking up.

They growled at him. He stopped laughing.

"What have you got to say for yourself, Luffy-_san_?" asked Brook, aiming his sword at him. Luffy leaned away from it.

"Wait! What do you mean? I didn't do anything!"

"Oh, no!?" Nami ranted about all the things he'd done to the crew. "…and finally," she finished, "you ruined my outfit!"

"Let me get this straight…" said Luffy, apparently thinking hard. He pointed to Sanji. "Sanji…"

"Yeah?"

"You had cake and you didn't tell me!?"

"IT WASN'T FOR YOU, JERK!"

"Luffy?" said Robin calmly. "You truly have no idea what we're talking about? You truly didn't do these things?"

Luffy shook his head.

"He must be lying!" said Usopp.

"Fine thing for _you_ to say," muttered Zoro.

"No, he must be telling the truth," said Sanji unexpectedly. "I've interrogated him before about missing food, and every time… here, watch this. Luffy, have you ever stolen food from the kitchen before?"

Luffy started sweating. His eyes drifted to the side and he tightened his lips, pursing them towards the side. "N-No…" he muttered. He started whistling.

"See?" said Sanji. "This guy couldn't lie to save his life."

"So…" Zoro lowered his swords. "If it wasn't Luffy… who the hell _was_ it?"


	2. The Issue is Found! Strange Ingredients!

"Well, let's just all calm down and think about this," said Brook, sitting down. The others did the same, forming a circle. "We were all affected by Luffy-_san_'s actions in one way or another this morning. However, Luffy-_san_ says that he didn't do anything, correct, Luffy-_san_?"

"Uh-huh," Luffy nodded.

"And yet we are all quite sure that we saw Luffy-_san_ doing these things, correct?"

More nodding, this time from the rest of the crew.

"And so . . ." Brook continued dramatically, "the time has come for the truth to be revealed. . . ."

They waited.

". . . so does anyone have any clue what's going on?"

"Don't act like you know everything when you don't!" yelled Sanji.

"It's possible that it's someone disguised as Luffy," Zoro said. "Right? Like the Copy-Copy bastard from Alabasta."

"That's easy to check," said Nami. "Luffy, touch your face with your left hand."

Luffy did. Nothing happened.

"It's not him," Nami told Zoro. "You were wrong."

"It was just an idea!" he snapped. "Besides, he could be somewhere else on the ship!"

"But if he were here," said Sanji, "what purpose would he have for pretending to be Luffy? And messing around with everyone? Plus, I think that if that _was_ him earlier, he would have been a lot more flamboyant."

"Good point . . ." muttered Nami.

"Who are you all talking about?" asked Franky.

"A swan," said Sanji. "So if it wasn't him in disguise, who was it?"

"Well, it wasn't me," Luffy muttered.

"We're aware of that, Luffy," said Robin. "By the way, you have crumbs around your mouth."

Everyone turned to stare at Luffy. He looked confused, said "Huh?" and rubbed his fingers around his lips, bringing them away to find small chocolate crumbs on them.

"That's weird . . ." he said. He shrugged and popped them in his mouth. "Yummy! Is this your cake, Sanji?"

"Well, this just got weirder," said Franky.

"Luffy," said Robin, "why don't you tell us what you did this morning? Start from when you woke up to now."

"Hm . . . well . . ." he put a hand to his chin in thought. "I woke up and went to the kitchen. Sanji kicked me out and said that breakfast wasn't ready yet. I played cards with Chopper and Usopp, and then Sanji yelled that it was ready. I ran to the kitchen and ate breakfast. Then I wandered around the deck and decided to go down to the inventing room to ask Usopp if he wanted to play another game. Then . . ."

He paused. He scratched his head. ". . . um . . . well . . . that's weird . . ."

"What's weird?"

"After that, I was just suddenly in the crow's nest. I was going to go back down, but then everyone came through the door . . . and that's what happened," he finished. He brightened. "Hey! Maybe I can teleport now! That would be so cool!"

The others stared at him.

"And you didn't think to mention this before _why_?" growled Zoro.

"I dunno. I didn't think about it." Luffy now had an expression on his face similar to a constipated person.

"Luffy?" Nami moved towards him. "Are you okay?"

He released his breath and leaned back. "No good . . . I can't teleport . . ."

"Thank god," Zoro muttered. "Now what's going on? Does anyone have any new ideas?"

The crew turned to look at Robin.

"Well . . ." she said thoughtfully. "If I'm correct . . . Luffy, may we examine your body?"

"Robin!" Nami exclaimed.

"Yes?"

"Okay then," said Luffy. He took off his shirt and hat and laid them on the ground. He started to take off his pants, but Usopp held up a hand.

"Uh, Luffy, let's let Robin check your torso first. We can check the other half if nothing comes up."

"Okay," Luffy agreed again. Robin moved closer to him and looked at his chest. She checked all around his arms and stomach. When she moved to the back, she made a noise of surprise.

"Did you find something?" Chopper asked, going around and looking. He tilted his head. "What's that weird symbol?"

"What? What?" Luffy started twisting his head around, trying to see. "What's going on?"

The others came around and looked. What they saw was a strange black symbol on the back of Luffy's neck: A circle with a tilde inside it. It was no more than an inch large.

"I believe that I've seen this somewhere before . . ." she stood up and strode towards the hatch.

"Where're you going?" Franky called after her.

"The library," she replied, descending. "I will return within the next ten minutes!"

The hatch shut behind her. They looked at the place where she had disappeared.

". . . Can I put my clothes back on now?" Luffy asked.

Nami threw his shirt in his face. "Please do."

Luffy pulled his shirt back on and hung his hat around his neck. "So what're you guys talking about? What symbol?"

"It looks like this . . ." Usopp took out a piece of chalk and drew the symbol on the floor. "Except it's a lot smaller," he added, rubbing it away once Luffy had seen it.

"Can't we just erase it?" Luffy asked, rubbing the back of his neck.

"I dunno, Luffy . . ." said Franky. "It looks more like a tattoo than a drawing. I don't think you can just rub it off."

"When did that symbol appear on him, anyway?" Nami asked. "His hat must have been covering it, so we didn't see it, but he probably hasn't had it for very long . . . Luffy, when do you think—Luffy?"

Luffy's head had dropped onto his chest. His eyes were shadowed. Usopp moved over, bent down, and looked at his face. Luffy's eyes were closed.

"Luffy . . . ?"

Luffy's eyes opened suddenly. His head snapped up and he looked around curiously. He spotted Usopp, grinned, and giggled. He flicked Usopp's nose like he had done earlier. Usopp backed away and covered it protectively.

"Great, he went insane again," Franky sighed. Luffy started tugging on Nami's hair. She slapped his hand away.

"Don't you dare mess with my Nami-_swan_, bastard!" Sanji yelled, kicking Luffy into the wall of the crow's nest. He sat up, shook his head, and ran to the hatch, opening it and jumping down before anyone could stop him.

"Shall we, love-cook?" Zoro asked, standing up.

Sanji nodded and stood up as well. "Don't slow me down, moss-head."

They jumped down the hatch after Luffy.

Robin climbed up a minute later with Zoro and Sanji, helping them hold down a struggling Luffy. "I've found out what's wrong with Luffy at the moment, but if you don't mind, I think we should wait until he's back to himself again."

"If you say so, Robin-_san_," said Brook.

It was about another minute later when Luffy stopped struggling, his eyes closed, and his head dropped to his chest. He looked up again soon and looked around. "Huh? Sanji? Zoro? Robin? Why're you guys holding me down?"

They released him. "Robin found out what's wrong with you, besides the obvious," Zoro said.

"Did I do something weird again?" he asked, sitting up and sitting cross-legged.

"Shut up and listen to Robin-_chwan_," Sanji said.

"Thank you, Sanji. Luffy, based on your strange actions, the memory gaps, and the symbol on your neck, you seem to be possessed by an imp."

"Imp?"

"Yes." Robin opened the book and showed them the two pages devoted to the creature she'd just named. "The imp takes up residence in another body in order to cause mischief. In doing so, it leaves a mark of its presence somewhere on the host's body. The symbol looks like this—" she showed a picture of the symbol. "The symbol cannot be removed unless the imp vacates the host body. Once the imp is gone, the symbol will vanish without a trace. The imp will occasionally take control of the host body to play pranks, jokes, and generally cause mischievous acts. Although its actions may directly or indirectly cause harm, its intentions are merely playful, not malicious. The host will not remember anything while under the imp's control."

"So the blimp is inside me!?" Luffy exclaimed, shocked.

"Imp," Nami corrected. "Robin, doesn't it say anything about getting rid of the thing?"

"Of course it does. Right here, in fact," she said, pointing to a section on the second page.

"Will you please read it aloud, Robin-_san_?" asked Brook. "I can't see it from where I am . . . but then again, I don't have any eyes to see from. Yohohoho~!"

"Certainly," Robin said. "It says that the host must drink a concoction to force the imp out."

"I just have to drink something to get the dimple out?" Luffy asked, grinning. "I hope it tastes yummy!"

"The ingredients are unusual," Robin noted, examining the list. "The concoction requires three monkey hairs, the scale of a dragon, a teaspoon of dog saliva, a handful of moss, three tangerine seeds, a mushroom, a bar of chocolate, six cherry blossoms, two petals from a Casablanca flower, a cup of cola, and a cup of tea."

. . .

"That doesn't sound yummy at all . . ." Luffy sighed, staring up at the ceiling in disappointment.

"The scale of a dragon? Where on earth are we supposed to find a dragon?" Franky asked, leaning over and skimming the list.

"Well, we've got the handful of moss right here," said Sanji, grabbing Zoro's hair and yanking him over.

"Hey!" Zoro slapped his hand away and put a hand on his swords. "You wanna fight!?"

"So it looks like we have everything except the monkey hairs, the dragon scale, the dog saliva, the moss, the mushroom, the cherry blossoms, and the Casablanca flower," said Nami. "I have no idea how we're supposed to get the dragon scale, but – YOU TWO, SHUT UP!"

"Yes, Nami-_swan_~!" Sanji stopped fighting with Zoro, who growled at him.

"—but maybe there's some substitute we can use. We're only half a day away from the next island, so they might have some of the things there."

"All right!" Luffy exclaimed, standing up. "Let's get rid of this limp!"


	3. Land! Cephus and Mysterious Fog!

**For those of you who have been following this story, I am so sorry for not updating in like forever. I have a number of reasons, but I feel like if I give them to you, they'll sound like excuses, so I probably shouldn't bother. Once again, sorry!**

* * *

"We're here!" Nami called from the bow of the Sunny. Zoro and Sanji looked up from where they were sitting on Imp-Luffy, who was squirming and making whining sounds. In the past day, he had been nothing but trouble for the rest of the crew; constantly knocking things over, messing with everyone, spilling things—in other words, basically how he always acted, but more chaotic.

"Good," Zoro muttered. He tapped Imp-Luffy on the head. "Maybe we can finally get this guy back to normal."

"Oh, we're here?" Franky asked, yawning.

The island looming ahead looked very foggy, so it was difficult to tell exactly what it held in store. However, the Strawhats could make out faint lights shining through the fog, so some kind of settlement was assumedly there.

"Ah, Nami-_swan_~!" cried Sanji, getting off of Imp-Luffy (leaving Zoro to the task of keeping him down) and clasping his hands together. "Where would we be without your navigating skills?"

"Probably dead, I don't know. How'd you handle it when I was kidnapped that one time?"

"We were hopelessly lost without your expertise, of course, Princess Nami~!"

"Quit _calling _me that!" Nami exclaimed angrily. "How many times do I have to tell you not to?!"

Zoro looked up, interested. "So, cook, you're admitting your own helplessness?"

Before Sanji could retaliate, Luffy looked up. "Huh? Oh, hi, Zoro!"

Zoro got off of him. "We're here, Luffy."

"Really? Awesome!" he stood up and ran to the bow. Peering over the side, he frowned. "Aw, I can't see anything. . . ."

Brook came up next to him and squinted into the gloom. "Even my sharp eyes cannot make out a thing in that fog . . . ah, I forgot; I don't have any eyes to begin with! Yo-ho-ho-ho!"

"M-Maybe this isn't a good idea," Usopp said nervously. "Who knows what could be hiding in that fog? There could be m-monsters or—"

"Or demons," Robin supplied.

"Not helping . . ." Usopp mumbled.

"D-demons?" Chopper shrieked, hiding the wrong way behind Usopp.

The Sunny docked at the side of the island and the Strawhats jumped off, one by one, onto dry land. They headed straight through the center of the island—Usopp and Chopper hid behind the others, looking around nervously. The fog was so thick that they could barely see two feet ahead of them. The sun's rays, so bright just minutes before, were completely swallowed by the gloom. They continually stumbled over invisible rocks or dips in the apparently cobbled road.

"Is anyone else worried that we're gonna bump into something?" Usopp asked. "Because it's really hard to see—"

He bumped into Zoro, who had bumped into Brook, who had bumped into Nami, who had suddenly stopped.

"What the hell, Nami?" Zoro asked, leaning around the skeleton and squinting at her figure.

"There's someone there," she said, squinting through the fog, "but it's hard to tell who."

"Hello?" said the person in question. The pirates jumped.

"Hello?" he or she repeated. "Who's there?"

"We're travelers," Robin replied calmly. "May we ask your name?"

"Not until I know what you look like," the stranger said defensively (judging by the voice, it was a man). "How do I know you're not some of those wood nymphs, using the fog as a cover to act like humans and trick good folk?"

"Wood nymphs?" muttered Zoro.

"We're not wood nymphs!" Usopp said, sounding offended. "Though I did once meet a rascally bunch of them a while back. I was a young lad of four years, and I had ventured out to—"

"I promise you that most of us are human," Robin said truthfully. "We've only just arrived at this island and we need help for our captain, if anyone is willing to lend us their services. Would you please tell us your name, or at least tell us how to get around in this fog?"

"Most of you are human . . ." the man muttered. He apparently made up his mind, because he then said "My name is Cephus. As for moving around in the fog, you kind of have to get used to it. It will usually clear up by noon, and I think it's almost—"

Somewhere in the distance, a clock that must have been very large chimed twelve times. Instantly, the fog vanished, leaving behind only the faintest wisps. The crew blinked in the sudden light from the sun.

"That's just ridiculous," Nami said, annoyed.

Meanwhile, the man—Cephus—had noticed Chopper, Franky, Brook, and Usopp. He backed away, his eyes wide.

"S-So you _aren't_ human!" he cried, pointing at each of them in turn.

"Why me!?" Usopp exclaimed, clearly offended this time.

"I did say _most_ of us are human," Robin pointed out. "And those four won't harm you."

"I'm human, too . . ." Usopp mumbled, sulking.

Cephus narrowed his eyes. "You say most of you are human, but I see four of you that clearly _aren't_ human and three that are! So if you three are working with any evil spirits or wood nymphs—"

"Wait, _four _and _three_?" Nami asked, confused.

"There should be nine of us!" Chopper exclaimed, looking around. Cephus jumped when he spoke.

"Hm?" Franky glanced around as well. "Where're Strawhat and Bro Sanji?"

"Strawbat and Bro Kanji!?" Cephus cried. "More spirits!?"

"Shut up for a minute," Nami told him. "Those two . . . where could they have run off to . . .?"

* * *

"So . . ." Luffy said, looking around the deserted valley. "Where are we?"

Sanji hit him on the head. "We _would _be back at that place with Nami-_swan_ and Robin-_chwan_ and the others if you hadn't decided to get possessed and run off!"

"It's not my fault," Luffy whined, rubbing the back of his head.

"Well, at least we can see now," Sanji continued, looking up at the bright blue sky. "Weird how that fog cleared up so quickly, though."

"It's mystery fog," Luffy said decidedly. "Let's go find the others! No, wait—let's go explore down there!" he pointed towards the valley. Sanji grabbed him by the back of his shirt before he could run off.

"_First_ we find the others," he growled. "_Then_, if Nami-_swan_ says yes, we can explore this place."

"Aw . . ." Luffy pouted.


End file.
